Magma tool targets mixed-signal design porting

Magma Design Automation has announced additional capabilities to its Titan mixed-signal design platform that specifically target the challenges designers encounter when moving from one process node to another.

Titan Analog Migration models analog circuits in process-independent equations. "The tool can be used for both optimising analog circuit performance for a given process technology and a specification (minimum area, power, etc.), and for porting efficiently from one process technology to another," explained Milan Lazich, Magma's VP Marketing. Crucially, it provides an alternative to time-consuming SPICE simulations, and Magma claims the tool could reduce design porting time from several weeks to days.

Titan Analog Migration, says Magma, will enable product groups to push the design envelope for extreme performance, to centre the design for multiple process, voltage and temperature corner cases and reduce power and jitter. Available as part of the Titan mixed signal design platform or as a standalone product, Magma envisions that the software tool could also provide an efficient and predictable way of storing analog circuits.

"The simulation-based optimisation methodology has not changed for over 25 years and is far too time consuming to use for large-scale analog circuit designs," said Suk Lee, general manager of Magma's Custom Design Business Unit. "Titan Analog Migration allows designers to capture design know-how in a structured and repeatable format and optimise circuits to given specifications using mathematical optimisation techniques. It allows customers to very quickly explore the specification boundaries of their own circuits and optimise analog circuits for lower power and lower area in a fraction of the time."

At the International Conference on Computer Aided Design 2007, Kevin Jones, engineering director at Rambus commented that "the porting effort is about two-thirds of the original design effort." Memory and I/O designers at Rambus have evaluated Titan Analog Migration and have given Magma their thumbs up.